


A Halloween Coincidence

by ObsidianRomance



Series: A Matter of Coincidence 'Verse [23]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Children, Cute Kids, Halloween, M/M, Past Mpreg, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 09:09:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5122661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianRomance/pseuds/ObsidianRomance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared and Jensen taking Chase out for his first Halloween is overshadowed by the fact that their girls don't seem to want to cooperate with finding a costume. Add on that they have to pay the "Halloween Tax" and Arianna and Brooke are going through a lot of growing up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Halloween Coincidence

Heaven help Jensen, but his girls have a weird fondness for farm animals.

This wouldn’t usually be something to agonize over, but Halloween has rolled around again and Arianna and Brooke nearly have a meltdown when their lamb costumes from last year don’t fit. For all their good-natured and well behaved charm, Arianna and Brooke have found a niche market in acting out over the most random things.

“Ari…please…” but Jensen’s words are cut off by a louder wail. He picks Arianna off the floor and she is a limp weight in his arms. “Ari,” he sighs. She’s not listening, choosing instead to throw her head back dramatically and cry.

Brooke isn’t doing much better. She’s mostly in her lamb costume but the twins have been growing like weeds and when she tried to yank the zipper up the front, she split the seams along the crotch. She’s plopped herself on the floor and falls back theatrically, hard enough to actually knock her head and prompt a new onslaught of real tears.

To be far, it is the disaster of the century.

Jensen is at a loss over what to do. He’s holding Arianna away from his body like she’s a time bomb.

She might as well be one considering how her cries are escalating.

Jensen tries to keep his voice sweet and forget the fact that his ears are probably bleeding. “Ari, we can get a new costume. You’re just getting so big that you need new, big girl clothes.”

“No! I want my lamby!” Arianna’s angry gestures are exaggerated and if Jensen wasn’t trying to manage this crisis, he would find it adorable.

“Lamby!” Brooke chimes in. “It broke! Fix it, daddy!” She rolls onto her belly and tries to bury her face in the plush carpet.

And now Jensen’s heart is broken too because he _can’t_ fix it. There is no way on earth he is going to get that costume to fit Brooke, even if he did know how to sew.

Jared pops his head into the room with Chase snuggled into the crook of his arm. “No luck, huh?” He takes one look around the room. “Stupid question, I guess.”

Without realizing he’s doing it, Jensen facial expression had “help” written all over it. “I don’t know what to do here.”

Lips screwing to the side in thought, Jared steps into the room. “Put her down,” he says calmly. Once Arianna is safely on the floor, he holds Chase out towards Jensen. “Here, take this one.”

“Gladly.” Jensen grabs his son, his perfect, happy, cooing son. He doesn’t care about Halloween or costumes yet, making Jensen melt at his innocence and how comparatively _easy_ he is to take care of.

Jared doesn’t say much. He tugs the lamb costume away from Arianna and pulls the wooly hood that has two fluffy ears and serves as the lamb’s head over his daughters head of hair. The rest of the costume cascades down her back. “See, you can have a lamby cape. You can be super lamby.”

Arianna is still crying through this change of events and it takes her a minute to realize what her papa just did. Her eyes blink enough so that her lashes can shake off the tears hanging on them. Nose scrunching in contemplation, she does an experimental twirl. Liking that her new lamb cape fans out around her when she spins, she gives a toothy grin.

Jensen is left with his brain careening. He’d been trying to manage their meltdown himself for twenty minutes and Jared solved it in mere seconds. It’s a temporary fix, he knows, but it’s enough for them to try and teach the girls that crying isn’t going to make their lamb costumes fit.

Meanwhile, Jared is working on pulling the ripped costume off Brooke. She’s still laying on the floor like her short life is over but when she realizes the noises coming from Arianna are giggles and not sobs, she perks up. It’s enough effort for Jared to set her on her feet and plop the lamb hood over Brooke’s head. “Go head, scoot.” He thumps her on the butt softly and Brooke scampers into action, mirroring Arianna in her twirling and running.

“You’re a genius,” Jensen says and means it.

With an eye roll and a playful shove to Jensen’s shoulder, Jared lets out a huff of air.

“I mean it. You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. I knew it when I hired you.” Jensen knows the grin he’s giving Jared is that goofy, love drunk one that is usually the result of being around Jared. He takes a step towards his boyfriend and presses closer. Mindful of Chase between them, he reaches up for a soft, quick kiss. He comes back from it reeling – something he definitely didn’t expect. His belly is a mess off emotion knots, and he’s struck by the irony that his daughter’s tears have stopped but he’s now chocking on his own. It’s everything really. It’s the fact that Arianna and Brooke are so much bigger than they were last year. It’s that Chase is getting big. It’s that he couldn’t stop Ari and Brooke’s tears.

“I’m a terrible father,” Jensen blurts out.

Jared’s so shocked that he literally takes a step back. “What?”

“I had no idea what to do. They would have been crying _forever_. And you just came in here and fixed it.” Jensen shakes his head, wondering where all of this is bubbling up from.

“Ohh, Jen,” Jared says, everything about him soft and understanding, almost like he doesn’t think Jensen is a complete idiot. “First of all, they wouldn’t have cried _forever_. They would have gotten bored and they would have gotten over it. Second, I didn’t really fix anything. It’s just temporarily put on hold.”

“Well…I couldn’t even do that.” Jensen knits his eyebrows and lets a sound that is part sigh and part snort.

“To be fair, I kind of do that for a living. I do manage your office and field all the phone calls.” When his attempt to lighten the mood is met with another snort, Jared puts up his hands. “You’re absolutely _not_ a terrible father. At all. You’re…the actually the kindest and most thoughtful man I’ve ever met. You know that. I _know_ I’ve told you that. And our kids are lucky to have you.”

Jensen actually knows he’s a good father to his children, but sometimes, in times like this, his faith in the fact wavers. It’s always over something stupid, but he wants to fix it. “Yeah but…I just didn’t know what to do.” The sentence sounds as pathetic as it actually is.

“I don’t know what to do either. Not really.” Jared shrugs. “That,” he points to Chase, “we’ve had before. I know what to do with a baby or toddler. But those,” he points to the girls, “we’ve never had. It’s my first time too. So I’m just figuring it out as we go along. Because they’re three and neither of us have dealt with twin girls in their terrible threes. It’s okay if we don’t know how to fix everything right away.”

Jensen knows Jared’s right. There are things about raising Chase that are so much easier than the same stage with Arianna or Brooke and not just because there is only one of their son. It just feels less unfamiliar. But Arianna and Brooke are a new frontier. “I just love them so much,” Jensen says before running a hand over his face. “God, I sound so ridiculous. I’m completely ridiculous, aren’t I?”

“Nah,” Jared knocks into Jensen’s hip. “It’s cute.” With a smirk, he makes a gesture with his head to leave the room. “Come on, I’ll let you eat one of the candy bars we’ve been saving for the Trick or Treaters.”

They’re about to leave the room when Arianna and Brooke crash into each other, both of them toppling to the floor. Usually this would end in giggles but today they are teetering too closely to meltdown status for that. Instead, a loud chorus of wails returns to the room.

“I’ll get Ari, you get Brooke?” Jared says while already sweeping into action.

Jensen is too, nodding in agreement with Jared even though it’s unnecessary. He already knows what to do, it’s part of his core. He’s got this dad job down pat, even if he sometimes needs help remembering that.

***

The box from Sherri Padalecki appears at their front door without any warning.

Usually, when she’s sending something for her grandchildren, there are a million phone calls in warning and then a million more to make sure the package has arrived safe and sound.

This time, Jared and Jensen have not heard a peep.

“Jay?” Jensen calls as he hoists the box in their air. “Your mother sent something. It’s addressed to the kids.”

“Shedud?” Jared says with a mouthful of food as he swallows the remains of his sandwich. “She did?” he tries again.

“Yeah. It’s not like her to go without alerting the media that she is about to dote on her grandkids.” Shrugging, Jensen sets it down in the den. Arianna and Brooke perk up immediately.

“Mee-maw and pop-pop sent you something, girls,” Jared says as he comes to sit cross legged beside the box.

“For baby Chase too?” Arianna chimes in.

Double checking the way that the package is addressed, Jared nods. “Yep, baby Chase too. Wanna see?”

“Yeah!” both girls shout with enthusiasm. They scramble to their feet and put all their hands on the box, making it almost impossible for Jared to get it open.

“Your mother is too much,” Jensen muses as Jared tugs the package open. It’s not a complaint. Far from it because he knows that Sherri and Paul miss out on a lot of things since they live so far away from their son and grandchildren.

“Well, she knows that I don’t love dressing the girls in identical outfits – something she absolutely adores – so if she wants to get her way, then she has to buy the girls matching clothing. And she plays dirty too; she always manages to pick things the girls are obsessed with.” Jared pulls the box flaps open and reveals a mess of plush fabric. “What the…” His voice trails off as he holds up one of the box’s contents.

“Oh my god…where did she find those?” Jensen says in mirrored awe. He realizes he is looking at a matching set of black and white cow costumes, both complete with a large metal bell around the neck.

Scanning the handwritten tag attached to it, Jared shrugs. “She made them apparently.”

“Yay! Moo-Cow!” The girls sing. They grab at the costumes and hug them to their bellies. “Moo-Cow!”

Cows are not simply cows in the Ackles-Padalecki household. They are adamantly referred to as Moo-Cows by both Arianna and Brooke, who _will_ correct anyone who sways from this title. The twins are fascinated by the costumes, eyes wide and grins even wider.

“You…like…these?” Jensen hesitates because after the lamb fiasco he doesn’t want to remind the girls that they seemed adamant about wearing their lamb costumes for Halloween and nothing else.

“Mmm Hmm!” Arianna’s head nods up and down and she snuggles the costume closer.

Both men let out sighs of relief. Halloween is just around the corner and they were running out of precious time to figure out what to do about two ill-fitting lamb costumes. Leave it to Mee-maw to save the day.

“Well come here then angel-face. Let daddy help you.” Jensen opens his arms for Arianna and she comes barreling towards him. It’s quick work getting her into the costume, which is large and roomy. He zips it up the middle and pulls the hood up and suddenly his daughter is transformed into the cutest cow – Moo-Cow – in town. The bell jingles around her neck and big floppy plush ears hang down from the hood. This costume just night be even cuter than the lamb one because it comes with felt pieces that fold over her hands and feet in the semblance of hooves and a tail topped with a pink bow stuck to her rump.

“Me! Me!” Brooke chimes, jumping up and down in front of Jared and holding her costume up to him.

Jared pats his lap and she scampers over. Within seconds, Jared has her zipped into her costume and she is giggling with delight. “Can you moo for me, Brooky?”

Brooke shimmies and gears up for a moo. Her face is serious and determined but when she finally makes a sound it is the sweetest and gentlest moo either man has ever heard. She does it again and manages to be even cuter.

Unable to help himself, Jared snatches her into his arms and hugs her tightly, dripping a kiss onto her costumed head. “Let’s try together, okay?” He waits for his daughter’s nod and then gives a drawn out moo.

Brooke tries again but now she is giggling and the sound is even cuter. Arianna joins in, both girls falling onto all fours and walking around the floor. They’re saying the word “moo” rather than trying to vocalize the sound, leaving a refrain of “moo moo moo” everywhere they walk.

“Well, they seem happy.” Jensen crosses his arms and watches the girls play.

“Thankfully.” He smiles at their daughters. Digging through the box, he finds a card. “It’s from my mom” he says before reading it aloud. “ _Dear, Boys. I saw this idea for the costume and knew the girls would look adorable in it. I hope you didn’t already get them costumes. I didn’t want to say anything in fear of getting their hopes up just in case they came out terribly. I think they came out pretty good. To be fair, I didn’t makes Chase’s. I’m just not that good. Happy Halloween! All my love, hugs, and kisses, Sherri,”_ Jared finishes. “She got Chase a costume too?”

Jensen’s already digging through the box, locating a folded costume at the bottom. He shakes it out and his heart melts even more. It’s a long sleeved onesie with the fabric patterned to look like a colorful farmer. “ _This_ is adorable.”

Reaching out to inspect the costume himself, Jared laughs. “Hope our little chunky man fits into it. Because it’s freaking adorable. And…he can wear those little work boots you got him.”

And just like that, Sherri Padalecki saved Halloween.

***

Jensen’s exhausted. Last time they took the girls trick or treating, they had been much smaller and ready to call it a day after one street of visiting houses. Now, they are running on more energy than Jensen’s ever seen them have before.

They’re being ridiculously cute. They’ve been mooing at everyone who opens their door before they remember they’re supposed to ask for candy. Then all the words fall out of their mouth in a jumble.

“Trikatweet!” Brooke beams and holds out her plastic pumpkin.

“Trikatweet!” Ari chimes in, holding her pumpkin out in wait beside Brooke’s.

The woman who answers the door is smiling and pouting, like the twins are just about the most adorable thing she’s seen today. Jensen would have to agree with her because they _obviously_ are. “Oh, are you two girls cows?” she asks while dropping a treat into each pumpkin.

“MOO-COW!” They both yell before breaking out into a series of mooing.

“Okay girls, we know. Shh. Say thank you to the nice lady for all the candy.” Jared says, trying to quiet the twins down. It’s been the same routine at every house and both men are starting to suspect that they’re having too much fun correcting people’s assumption that they are simply cows.

“Thank you!” they parrot with identical grins and run back to Jensen who is waiting at the bottom of the houses’s walkway.

“Thank you,” Jared says with a smile.

The woman returns the smile. “They’re adoreable. He is too,” she says with a gesture toward Chase. “How old?”

“Thanks. He’s almost one.” Jared shifts Chase to his other hip, showing off his costume.

The woman puts a hand to her chest and makes that pout again. “And he’s a farmer! I’ve never seen anything cuter.” She gives another smile. “Do his daddies want some candy for the road too?” She holds out a package of M&Ms.

“Thank you but I think we’ll have our fill of candy with what our girls are raking in. There is no way they’re going to be allowed to eat most of that.” Starting down the stairs, he turns back. “Happy Halloween.” When he faces towards Jensen again, he finds that he’s running off in chase of Brooke who decided her new favorite direction is the opposite one from Arianna’s. He grabs Arianna’ hand and they wait until the runaway cow is wrangled and they can move onto the next house.

***

“Did you have fun girls?” Jensen asks as they enter the house. Chase is getting heavy in his arms but with him not walking yet, it was carry him or push a stroller. Jensen can't wait till next year when Chase can actually enjoy Halloween instead of just being along for the ride. Still, his costume was a hit and he was a giggling happy kid the enough time. Plopping Chase on the floor, he crawls after his two sisters who are bouncing up and down with their pumpkins.

“Moo!” they answer and run into the den. Chase follows them, surprisingly fast for being on all fours. He scoots forward, his diapered butt looking extra adorable in the fake denim overall pattern of the costume.

Jared is right beside him as they follow their children.

“Can we eat some candy papa? Pwease?” Arianna gives a big grin.

“You can each have two pieces. Okay? Then we have to eat some dinner.” Jared sits on the floor and spreads his legs into a V, patting the carpet for the girls to sit between them. “Come on, let’s pick out something.”

This is new to Jensen. He doesn’t really remember this part of Halloween. Not really. He remembers going to get candy and eating it but being a parent to a trick or treater is something he never contemplated. Now he has to police candy. Candy…a word that should never be associated with the word police.

He does, however, remember one thing about his parents during Halloween. His dad always made him and his siblings pay a “Halloween tax”. For ever two pieces of candy Jensen got to eat, his dad would take one. It was the price they had to pay for being given costumes and chaperoned all over the neighborhood. As he’d gotten older and he’d gone out on his own with only a little face paint on in lieu of a costume, there hadn’t really been a reason to still contribute to the “tax” but he and his siblings always still paid it. It was a general thank you to his parents.

“Can I have this one?” Brooke asked, holding up a mini Milky Way.

“Yep, that’s a good choice,” Jared says.

Jensen smirks and sits down so that he’s facing Jared, making the same V formation with his legs so that the girls are “trapped” between them. “And I get this one,” he says, fishing a bite sized Snickers bar from Brooke’s pumpkin. Jared throws him a confused face.

“Haaaaaay,” Brooke whines, trying to grab the candy.

“That’s how it works, Brooke. You have to pay the ‘Halloween tax.’ You get to eat a lot of that candy but you have to give some to me and papa for going out with you. We didn’t get to ask for any candy.” Jensen thinks about how help the concept make sense to his girls. “It’s like a big thank you.”

“Ohhh,” Brooke says. She thinks quietly to herself, looking very serious until she bites her lip and perks up. Digging in her pumpkin, she pulls out a mini Hershey bar. “Do you want this one too? Because I…I…I want you to have candy too.”

Jensen breaks, he grabs Brooke’s tiny hand, holding It a little too long before taking the candy. “Thanks monkey…ohh, sorry, I mean Moo-Cow.”

Arianna, who had been watching the whole exchange, turns towards Jared and she cocks her head. Their bond has always been strong but sometimes Jensen thinks the two of them communicate without words. Clearly, this time Arianna’s actions are unexpected because he gasps when she takes her whole bucket of candy and dumps it on the floor. “Here, papa! Tax for you!”

Jensen feels like he’s been transported to a place where everything is overly sappy because what his girls just did…you can’t make that type of stuff up. It’s so perfect. And the best part is, they are genuinely happy to share with their parents. It’s not the way Jensen remembers it. Jensen remembers reluctantly giving over part of his candy during his early years. It wasn’t until he was seven or eight that he realized parting with a few treats was the least he could do for his parents.

“Oh, no Ari. You keep most of that. I’ll just take some of these for now,” Jared says as he takes the peanut M&Ms. “But thank you so much angel.”

“I’mma gonna give this one to baby Chase.” Brooke says, grabbing a lollipop and darting towards her little brother.

“No! I’m gonna give him candy!” Arianna snags the first treat she can get, a Butterfinger, and runs in pursuit of Brooke.

“Girls! Baby Chase can’t have candy right now. He…ohh man,” Jared sighs as he gets to his feet and realizes the twins don’t feel like taking no for an answer. “Come on Moo-Cow Herder. I’ll get Ari, you get Brooke?”

“Already on it,” Jensen says, pushing up with the intent of saving his son from the smothering kindness of his sisters. He winks at Jared, “fair warning, I am totally going to herd you into the bedroom later, cowpoke.”

“I plan on it. Halloween tax and all. You’ve gotta give me a treat.” Jared smirks before holding Arianna back by grabbing her cow tail. “Okay, Moo-Cows, it’s time you guys gets some real food in your bellies. How about some chicken?”

“Papa,” Brooke says dramatically with a raise of her wrist to her forehead. “Moo-Cows don’t eat chicken. They eat grass.”

“Well how about we just eat you then,” Jensen says, grabbing Brooke and taking a mock bite from her belly.

Brooke squeals and struggles to fight him off. “No, papa! No! Eat Chase! Eat Ari!”

Arianna shrieks playfully and jets off in the direction of the kitchen. “No!” She’s all giggles and laughs even harder when Jared catches her and nibbles at her neck.

Jensen is left with a smile on his face because Halloween memories have always been some of his best. And now, he gets to make them with his own little family.


End file.
